For Halloween, create silly and scary-looking faces with buttercream, candy, marshmallows, and, of course, cupcakes. Decorating the cakes is a great activity for kids and parents to do together: Set out cupcakes and bowls of colored frostings and assorted candies and let everyone create his or her own aliens, monsters, and beasts.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 12 standard and 12 mini
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Tint buttercream desired color with gel-paste food color. For the bright green used on some of the cupcakes (opposite), use a mixture of leaf-green and lemon-yellow. Use forest-green for others. For a few of the creatures on page 231, mix in a small amount of black food color to make a gray color; leave some buttercream untinted for white.
Step 2
Make the candy features as shown on page 230. Using an offset spatula, spread cupcakes with plain or tinted buttercreams, as desired. To create the split and filled aliens (opposite), use a serrated knife (and a gentle sawing motion) to slice off the top of the cupcake (reserve top), then spread buttercream generously over bottom part and replace tops (leave unfrosted).
Step 3
To finish, attach candy features to frosted (or filled) cupcakes. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are decorated; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.
To Make Eyes:
Step 4
Use marshmallows (sliced rounds or minis) for whites, or cast an eerie glow with colored jelly beans and gumdrops. Make pupils with painted dots of melted chocolate, by pressing candy-coated chocolates to the sticky sides of marshmallows, or with licorice lace pieces. For antennae eyes, push mini chocolate chips, tips down, into mini marshmallows, then make holes underneath (with a toothpick) and insert a licorice lace into each. Half-moon shapes cut from sour belt candies make droopy eyelids.
To Make Mouths:
Step 5
Cut mini marshmallows into pieces to resemble fangs. Bend licorice laces or gummy rings into mouths; use mini marshmallows or white jelly beans (whole or cut) for teeth. Cut taffy tape into tongues, fangs, or tentacles. Halve red gumdrops and turn on their sides for lips.
